Budget

West Virginia Code requires that municipalities produce annual budgets and make no expenditures in any category that have not been budgeted for.

Budgets are enacted for periods of time known as “fiscal years.” All governments in West Virginia use a fiscal year that runs from July 1 to June 30; the fiscal year is named for the year in which it ends. For example, Fiscal Year 2013 ran from July 1, 2012 until June 30, 2013.

The City of Elkins begins working on the budget for each upcoming fiscal year in the January preceding the fiscal year being planned for.

As stipulated by West Virginia Code 11-8-9, council then meets during March “to ascertain the fiscal condition of the municipality, and make an itemized statement which makes up what is commonly referred to as the ‘levy estimate/budget document’.”

This “levy estimate/budget document” (i.e., “the budget”) is then submitted to the West Virginia Auditor’s Office, which checks it for accounting and procedural errors.

Then, on the third Tuesday in April, like every other governing body across the state, council meets to to hear and consider any objections made orally or in writing by the state auditor or by any taxpayer of the city before officially adopting the estimate (“budget”) and “laying the levy.” (“Levy” refers to taxes, in this case, an additional amount added to the county-imposed property tax. The levy imposed by Elkins is currently 12.5 cents per $100 property tax valuation, the highest rate that cities can impose without an election. Levies imposed via election, above the 12.5 cents rate, are referred to as “excess levies”; there is currently no excess levy in Elkins.)

Once a budget has been established, it is possible for a municipality to make changes through the budget revision process. Revisions within a department may be made by council with no further approval needed; revisions between departments must be approved by council and then submitted for state auditor approval.

For more information about state rules regarding budgeting, please visit the state auditor’s website.

Current and historical budget documents are available for download at this page of the state auditor’s website.